Bus plunges into ravine west of Mexico City; at least 12 killed

Rescue workers move an injured person at the site where a bus plunged into a ravine along the highway linking the Mexico City suburb of Naucalpan with Toluca.

Rescue workers move an injured person at the site where a bus plunged into a ravine along the highway linking the Mexico City suburb of Naucalpan with Toluca. (European Pressphoto Agency)

Richard Fausset and Cecilia Sanchez

MEXICO CITY -- At least 12 people were killed and many more injured Friday morning when a passenger bus overturned on a highway west of the Mexican capital, according to government and media reports.

The accident occurred on a highway linking the Mexico City suburb of Naucalpan with the city of Toluca, according to a statement released by the Naucalpan municipal government.

The news service Milenio reported that the driver lost control of the bus at around 7 a.m., causing it to overturn and plunge into a ravine.

Municipal officials said that 15 people were injured. But some news reports put the number at more than 20, with many flown in helicopters to hospitals in Mexico City. Photos of the scene Friday morning showed firefighters and Red Cross members tending to the wounded.

Among the dead were eight men, three women and a boy in a high-school uniform, according to the government statement. Some media reports have put the number of dead as high as 14.

The newspaper Reforma reported that an official for the state of Mexico, Eduardo Luque, said that the bus driver may have been speeding.

By some measures, everyday safety problems take a greater toll on Mexican residents than the country’s infamous plague of organized crime and drug violence. In 2011, according to government statistics, more than 27,000 people died as a result of the violence. That same year, more than 36,000 Mexicans died in various accidents, including about 16,000 traffic accidents.